‘Her body, her choice,’ unless she’s Muslim

Detailed summary

By Hala AburubFeminism fights for women’s autonomy. For their right to make their own decisions. To wear what they want. Study what they want. Marry who they ...

Feminism fights for women’s autonomy. For their right to make their own decisions. To wear what they want. Study what they want. Marry who they want. Be who they want to be. However, when a woman exercises her free will to make decisions that do not align with Western standards, that principle suddenly stops applying. A woman who chooses to have children, get married, or wear the hijab is automatically labelled oppressed, brainwashed, or in need of saving simply for exercising her agency in ways that are traditional or religious.

A woman’s autonomy should include the freedom to make decisions that others would not make for themselves, whether that means wearing the hijab, becoming a homemaker, pursuing a career, or rejecting traditional roles altogether. Freedom loses its meaning when only one outcome is celebrated. If a woman’s choices are only respected when they conform to Western ideals of liberation, then the movement is no longer defending women’s autonomy: it is merely replacing one set of expectations with another.

Opening of the article, excerpted from Kuwait Times. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.